In A World Of Laughter
by CraneEsque
Summary: Peter Merkle's bastard daughter,Elise Hancock,has been chosen to carry on his title of Rag Doll.Elise herself has developed quite a fancy over the Joker from her father's stories, but Joker is less than stead,he dumps her into the hands of Jonathan Crane, who sees her as an experiment.*No, Alex Merkle WILL not be a part of this, unless you can convince me otherwise. :)
1. Chapter 1

_Alright. I'm ready for this,_ She thought, taking several deep breaths. The fall was approximately six feet to the railing off the walkway, and eight more to the floor below. All she had to do was make the land and spring off..._without closing her eyes._ She checked her hips for the hundredth time, making sure that all of her weapons were secure, then took another deep breath.

All she had to do was make the landing, and hope that everything else just fell into place. If his men just stood there, she would attack first and initiate the fight. Then all she had to do was last long enough to catch his eye. Then he would see that she was useful. Then he would accept her, and let her be his. All she had to do...was survive.

"What if we don't make it...?" Elise's soft, frail voice squeaked out, echoing in contest to Doll's stream of thought like snow fall. _Then I'll fight my way out or die trying, or die trying. It will all. Be. Worth it._

The amateur villian shook her head, long red-dreads flinging this way and that as she regained focus. One _last_ deep breath, as she closed her eyes, and relaxed, feeling her new-found alter ego take control.

"_Ohh...yes." _Doll hissed with delight, stretching out her fingers and rolling her neck. She sighed, and took in the area, launching herself out of the vent without a second thought.

Just as Rag Doll had expected, her fingers found the railway with ease, her body upside down and rigid until she sprung off in a delicate cat's curl before her bladed-heels landed onto the ground with a loud _clack_. And yet...she went unnoticed.

"Oh, you can't be serious..." Doll looked around at the several goons, either with their backs to her, or passing by with nothing more than a glance. One of them walked by, his eyes moving, almost _too_ slowly, up and down her body, before he winked at her and carried on with his box in hand. Rag Doll rolled her eyes in disgust and followed him to where he set the box down on the floor, and bent over to tap his shoulder.

"Well, hey beauti-." He wasn't able to finish with her fist in his face. At his pained cry, the other men turned around finally realizing that she didn't belong, and were on it.

"Now you're onto something, boys!" Rag Doll teased as she dodged one of their punches, grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back before slitting his throat and dropping him, just in time to dodge an open blade.

She found herself laughing as she dodged and attacked, killing them with ease. _Our practice paid off, we can do this!_ Elise cried happily, looking through Rag Doll's eyes to see if the Joker was close. Doll jumped into the air and flipped onto the back of one of the more muscular men and snapped his neck, then kicked off of him, her heels flying out in a deadly spin.

Time passed slowly as she dropped one man after the other, and Elise kept scanning. Finally catching sight of the clown on the walkway from before, she noticed that he stood with his back to her, talking to the harlequin. He apparently didn't even care that someone had broken into his hide out and was killing his men! Doll scoffed. "This isn't just your boys in a fight, Clown... Remind me why we're doing this again, Elise?"

"Huh?"

Rag Doll shoved her knife into the center of his chest and dropped him. "I wasn't talking to you." She said coolly, her eyes already drooping with boredom. There was about ten men left in the area, and no telling where the others were lurking or gone to. Elise glanced at the clown again, who still hadn't turned around. _He's not noticing..._ Elise said nervously. Panic was rising in Rag Doll's throat, despite how hard she tried to push it back. "Keep you're emotions to yourself, damn it. I don't need that right now."

_But you can't keep this up much longer, Rag Doll. Neither of us can...a few more minutes pushing like this and we're dead._

"_No. We're. Not._ Stop it, Elise. You're making this worse." Rag Doll tried to keep her focus on the men around her but Elise kept shifting her gaze to the clown, causing Doll to try dodging at the last second and end up with a deep gash in her right forearm. She hissed with pain but kept going. "God damn it, Elise, I mean it. _Hold back._ Let me handle this!"

Elise wasn't listening. _We're going to die in here!_ She screamed hysterically. Rag Doll tried even harder to concentrate, shoving Elise back as much as she could. She gripped the blade tighter, slashed harder, breathed harder, _fought_ harder. He had to notice. He had to at least see her before she either collapsed, or was killed by Elise's carelessness. Maybe they just weren't ready for this...

And then she saw him, turned around with his arms crossed casually against the railing. The harlequin had walked off and sat a top a fairly high pile of boxes, most likely for a better angle. She watched with wide, interested eyes, while the Joker's only danced with simmering glee. But still they danced...

_He saw us, Rag Doll...and we're—_She almost choked on a happy squeal—_We're _entertaining _him!_

"Good, then he'll stop them any second, right?"

_And he might even clap for us! "Encore, encore!" Oh, I bet that's what he'll say, Rag Doll. Just watch._

"You're fucking nuts." Doll muttered, her arms burned as she dodged again. Her movements slowed. He had to be fascinated...or at least interested. At the _very_ least he would want to use her!

Realizing that the Joker had no intentions of calling his men off, Elise's panic returned two-fold, shoving against Doll's mind and causing her vision to go black for a fraction of a second. Her body dry heaved. Elise was trying to resurface. He really was going to let her die, and Elise wasn't helping anything. She felt Elise's emotions pour out in a heavy burst, like a waterfall from a breaking dam. Elise suddenly screamed with rare rage, causing Rag Doll to black out entirely and watch from inside.

"God dammit Joker! Don't I look useful to you?!" She turned to the villain. "This, all of this, was for you! And your just going to let me die?"

She felt his men grab her from behind, though most of them looked confusedly to Joker for the OK to kill her. She kept going.

"You're going to let the one person who can actually _do_ something for you die, just like that? That bitch cant even fight! She just whines," she changed her tone to a mockingly high pitched jersey accent, " 'Oh Mistah J, come help me, please _save_ me Mistah J, Im so scared Mistah J, They've got me." She spat towards the now fuming Harley Quinn who had settled herself down on a stack of boxes across the room.

The blonde jumped down and opened her mouth to say something but the clown raised his hand wordlessly, an entertained grin spread across his face.

Doll went on, " You cant to that to people, 'Mistah J', you cant just...just _inspire_ someone the way you did and not even give them a _chance_." She finally calmed down, breathing hard. "I'm not useless..."

It was quite for a minute, when finally the clown prince stepped down from where he was, grinning all the while, and paced over to her-around her. His eyes raked over her form like knives.

"You want me to give you a chance huh?" He stopped in front of her then laughed. "And here i thought you were a new vigilante!"

Doll watched unsure of how to respond as she watched him, but then he calmed down.

"Look, I've already got a girl..._Doll_, but thanks for the offer. I suppose I wont kill you just yet." He licked the insides of his scars, his eyes boring into hers as he thought.

"Joker, please... I can help you, I know it! I want to help you show the world this...this disgusting disease that its become...! ...please..."

She went slack in the minions hold as she watched the Joker walk away. Rag Doll felt sick at how Elise was begging and finally pushed her aside and regained control.

"Quit begging you bitch," Rag Doll muttered to Elise, uncaring that she was saying it out loud, "You sound like the harlequin."

Noticing her change in attitude Joker stopped, and turned back to her with his head tilted.

"Excuse me?"

Rag Doll didn't answer right away, but watched him.

"There is no excuse." She smirked and dipped her head in what little of a mocking bow her captors would allow her to give, and even bent in an awkward restrained curtsy. "Elise has made an ass of us. And for that I suppose I...apologize." She grinned coolly.

The Joker chuckled, looking at her dreads, her blue leather corset, her red and white stockings...her heels. "You realize that the whole Rag Doll bit is taken, right?"

Doll lifted her chin like royalty, "It was renounced, by my father. He asked me to carry on his name."

"A girl, to carry on the title of Rag Doll?" The clown looked very unconvinced. "And one who's not even mentally sound...hmm...well, I certainly don't want to deal with you."

He clapped his hands above his head and barked out a command. "Put her up boys. Chop, chop! ...This kids useless to me anyway."

…

"_You're so beautiful..."_

_Finally..._

_Smile._

_Sigh._

_Nod._

_Feel him..._

_So close..._

_Feel his warm breath..._

_His scarred lips,_

_Leaving feather-light kisses in their wake..._

"_I love you, Elise."_

"_Wait...what?"_

_Why Elise?_

_Why do they always love _Elise_?_

_THAT'S NOT WHO I AM ANYMORE!_

Doll woke up coughing. Not only was she already sick to her stomach from Elise's dream, there was now surely a dark bruise forming on it as well. Her arms slowly unwound from clutching her stomach, and Doll propped herself up on one arm. Elise's excitement swelled up, almost choking Rag Doll, as she looked up at the _idiot _who had just kicked her, (_What if it's Joker? _Elise hoped excitedly, making Rag Doll roll her eyes.) Her eyes quickly shot up and down the form of the man, wearing torn, greasy jeans, a tattered wife-beater, and a rubber clown mask.

The over-powering, and drastic change of Elise's emotions was slowly starting to wear down Rag Doll's patience, although she still found herself laughing out loud at Elise's let-down. _Did you _really_ expect to see your Clown Prince of Crime coming to fetch you? _Outwardly she laughed even harder. _Honestly, what do you see in him anyway?He's so-_

"Get up." The goon said the order roughly, hatred dripping in his voice. His hand tightened around the crow-bar in his hand and he stepped back, unsure of what Rag Doll might do.

"I said _get up!_" He moved to kick her again, but her hand easily grabbed his ankle, holding it in place before he could make contact. Her nails dug into his exposed skin as she used him to pulled herself into a sitting position.

"You'd watch your tone if you planned on keeping your guts on the inside, now wouldn't you?" Rag Doll's green eyes burned into his and she released him, standing in one fluid motion. The man stuck his chin out and looked down at her before giving a nervous chuckle. She assumed it was supposed to sound condescending but it didn't. After all, she just killed off half of his friends in a little under an hour the night before. Huh...friends...

"Oh _I _know why you're so _grum_py..." Rag Doll smiled, a wicked glint in her eyes. "I killed some of you're friends last night didn't I?"

"Stop talking." He growled, nudging her threateningly in the back with the crow bar.

"Were you _fond _of him?" Doll cooed mockingly. "Did you play cards together? Oh wait... I know...He made you _laugh,_ didn't he?A tiny bit of light in this horrible, dark wor-."

She cried out in surprise when a sharp pain shot through her back, and whipped around, grabbing his arm before he could pull it back. She leaned back with his limb in her grasp and used his arm as leverage to swing onto his back before he could react. Her other arm wound around his neck. "I told you to watch your _fucking_ tone."

Her legs swung up, her feet angled so that the blades on her heels could sink in easily, rolling off of him as he fell. Blood poured out of his mouth as his body went into shock. Rag Doll, however, went on towards the van, seeing several more henchman waiting for her.

They climbed in the back wordlessly. The clown himself sat directly across from her on the dusty metal floor.

"Where's the man I sent?" He asked, only half interested.

Doll smiled her most charming smile, showing her teeth. "Funny thing, that...he didn't seem to have very good manners."

"Ah..." The Joker had already busied himself with sharpening one of his knives.

Rag Doll didn't very much care. The clown was moody and obnoxious, she was just glad he wasn't he's usual excited self. _Actually..._Rag Doll watched him a bit more closely, tilting her head in thought. _Is he nervous? _

With a thoughtful huff, she sat back, trying to assess the situation. Elise made her feel a sense of worry begin to bubble up. Doll laughed. _Oh...Elise. Are you worried for the poor bastard? Do you want to go over and _console _him? _

_Stop it Rag Doll..._

_Too bad he likes that Harlequin more than you. Maybe it's because..._

_Rag Doll, please... stop it, _Elise begged helplessly, despite the frustration building inside of her.

Doll gasped in mock surprise, like the thought had just hit her, _Maybe its because she's not _crazy_ like you, are. Did you ever think of that?_

"Yes. She! _IS!_" Elise screamed suddenly, her physical body caught between laughing and seething with anger. The driver jumped, causing them to swerve slightly, and the other men tried they're best not to look at her, though they were visibly shaken and sneaked cautioned looks towards her. Of course the harlequin was crazy, he wouldn't choose a girl who was _sane_ that would be just wrong. She was just useless.

Besides...everyone was crazy, they were just ashamed of it. Everyone except Joker. Joker was proud of his insanity... Elise sighed and leaned her head back again, remembering the shrill, hyena-like laughter she had heard so many times before in his videos. Rag Doll rolled her eyes in disgust, but allowed Elise to remain like that—relaxed, eyes closed—for the rest of the ride.

The sound of the van doors being swung open and slamming on themselves with a loud metallic _clang_ jolted Rag Doll and Elise awake. The men around her climbed out watching her expectantly.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Joker asked from behind the group, his voice aggravated and impatient. "Drag her out!"

And he stalked off ahead of them. _Joker, wait..._ Elise thought pitifully, knowing it was no use to call out to him. He hated her, she knew it. Everything she had done had only pushed him away from her instead of making him see her. Her attention was drawn back as the men started to nervously reach out for her, but she put her hand up.

"It's okay guys, I can get out myself. Thank you though." She smiled brightly, climbing out carefully and hopping onto the ground. Elise dusted off her leggings and straightened up, every feeling of Content and maybe even Curiosity flying out of her head with Rationality in tow. She shrieked and tried to go back into the van, feeling the henchman grab her and begin dragging her after the clown as she struggled to get away from them.

Though her eyes were squeezed tightly shut the image of the ever looming asylum burned in her memory. "Please," she begged, crying pitifully, "You could have just killed me. _Joker _could have killed me. Why bring me back to this...this _shit hole_!"

She screamed again, shaking herself in a violent effort to be freed but to no avail, and then suddenly went still. For a couple of minutes, the goons were dragging nothing but dead weight. They drug her around the building and down a small hill off the side of it, making their way to a back door.

The goons shifted her in their hold, wrapping her arms around their necks as though she were merely drunk instead of feinted, and went through the back door and down a series of halls with numerous twists and turns. Her feet skidded across the concrete floor, bouncing every once in a while as the fake red leather of her heels refused to slide smoothly.

Rag Doll slowly began to come to, doing her best to push Elise to the back, just as the men had found the room they were looking for, pulling her in and chaining her to an unsightly metal chair. They walked out in a hurry and waited in the hall. Joker, however, was nowhere to be found.

She looked around the room, realizing that she was in fact in Doctor Jonathan Crane's office. Supposedly he only handled cases dealing with Mob members and the severe nut-jobs—the kind of people Elise had never been comparable to. She just wasn't crazy enough to have been put in his 'care'. Well, now apparently, she was. Her attention focused on the Doctor in front of her, his blue eyes dancing with a delight she had never seen before. Given she had only seen him a few times in passing.

"Hello, Ms. Hancock." He said courteously, fumbling with his suitcase and laying it on top of his desk. Rag Doll groaned inwardly. When would they understand, when Elise was out, and when Rag Doll was out? Two completely different people, just trapped in one single body. Would they never learn? "It has been brought to my attention that you may have been in need of my care, and I apologize for having not done anything sooner. You being brought here, was so that I can put you through a series of tests to see how serious your condition has become."

He folded his hands, head cocked to the side innocently. His lips pressed together for a second, he glanced at his suitcase and then back to her, smiling.

Rag Doll sighed, aggravated. "Dr. Crane, do you think us fools?" She said simply.

Jonathan laughed, "Of course not, why would I think that?"

"You're feeding us _bullshit_ for one. We were brought here by Joker's men, not doctors. Please don't underestimate our intelligence. God knows why you've really brought us here, but I'm quite sure you don't give a damn about our 'condition'."

Crane watched her, his smile fading as he listened. When he spoke, it was as though he was thinking out of his head. "_Us, we, ours..._ Tell me, Ms. Hancock—," he adjusted as he spoke jumping at Rag Dolls sharp response.

"_Stop_ calling me that. I am nothing like Elise, understood?"

He pushed his glasses back up his nose and smiled fleetingly at her. "Yes, of course. And what should I call you?"

Doll lifted her chin proudly, staring at him with regal contempt. "Rag Doll."

"Oh, Alright then. Now, child..." The Doctor was now slipping on his trademark mask, eliciting a surprised gasp from Elise, "Take a deep breath, for me."


	2. Chapter 2

"_**The most beautiful things come from Chaos."**_

_**-Anonymous**_

...

"You want her? Keep her." Joker said, disinterested. He could see the intrigued look on Scare Crow's now unmasked face. After so long of watching, waiting for some sign of the gas to take its usual effect, the man still watched her as though he didn't want to miss a second. Behind the ice blue eyes, hundreds of different experiments ran through his head, all because of this girl.

Doll lifted her head, her eyes narrowing at the clown as she thought about the words he had just said. He ran his tongue over his scars. "Consider this my thanks for getting me out of the asylum, _Dr. Crane_."

"After everything I did for you already…?" Elise said slowly, almost menacingly in her daze. She had changed herself for him, created the Rag Doll for him, killed her _family_ for him…didn't he realize that?

"Of course he doesn't," Rag Doll spat, ashamed at how, again and _again _this girl made them appear weak. She turned her gaze to Joker who had paused to smirk at her mockingly.

He ignored her. "All you did was kill my men, sweetheart! That's not exactly a favor in my book." A grin stretched from ear to ear on his painted face. He rocked back and forth on his heels, then leaned over to her, whispering dramatically, "And there's no _use_ for a girl who can't be scared into obedience."

"And there's no use for an obnoxious ass of a clown who wears make-up every damned second either! What can't you get enough of the kiddies?" Rag Doll smirked triumphantly as she watched his expression falter before he regained himself. In the corner of her eye she saw the edges of the Doctor's mouth twitch, but he otherwise remained motionless, watching her as though

_Rag Doll, what are you doing? He's the reason I made you! He's my _everything_!_

"I don't care, Elise! _He's _the one who's worthless." Rag Doll shouted, eyes shut tightly as she screamed. Elise cowered in the back of her mind, though she disagreed she stayed quiet. Their body wretched in confusion, tears streaking down their determined face.

Joker sat there watching her half-way convulse while she cried.

"Well then," he clicked his tongue inside his mouth and braved another manic grin before hurrying out of the door, "Toodle-oo!"

"Joker." Crane spoke up suddenly, his eyes still never leaving Rag Doll, who watched him with new found curiosity. "Thank you, for this...opportunity."

Elise whimpered as joker left, though Rag Doll made sure not to let the sound escape. Then the moments passed in silence. Jonathan Crane watched as Rag Doll's demeanor slowly shifted. Her sultry eyes widened, her mouth tightened into a sad pout and she began to fidget, no longer able to keep still.

"If I release you from the chair, can I trust you to come with me?" He asked, eying her for her reactions more than he was listening for her answer. He could see her mulling it over in her head, fighting herself for an answer. Her eyes went back and forth from intense to child-like.

"Ms. Hancock, why aren't you saying anything out loud like you were earlier?" He asked, leaning forward, his shards of ice boring into her emeralds. His curiosity was beginning to peak, and despite his demeanor he was about to overflow with...well..._interest_.

Rag Doll had regained control in order to answer, and turned her eyes to him coolly, a soft smile playing on her lips. "Dr. Crane, certain things are better kept inside," she paused, considering whether or not to continue, and looked him over. He certainly was interested, no matter how well he tried to hide it, his normally still features were alive with twitches of a smile, his eyelids subtly going back and forth from a little wider to normal as he continuously reminded himself to look uninterested.

"And...somethings are accidentally let out. Elise here has some very troubling emotional issues." She ran her eyes over the doctor before returning them to his, " Maybe you could help her sort them out at some point..."

The doctor allowed himself a small smile and adjusted so that he was leaned back in his chair again, one arm on the desk. "So, I take it that you, at least, would like to come with me?"

"Yes, I think that I would like that very much, _Doctor._" Rag Doll smiled almost daringly as Elise screamed in the back of her head, but Rag Doll was too alert this time. She wasn't about to let Elise slip back out after her little fiasco with the Joker.

…

Another shock ran through her. Her eyes went wide. She struggled for the briefest moment against the restraints that bound her to the gurney. Dr. Crane straightened his stance as her mouth opened as though she was about to scream, but before any sound came out her eyes rolled up into the back of her head…and she fell. The doctor bit his thumb in aggravation.

It had been almost a month since he had relocated the girl to the lab in the even lower chambers of Arkham Asylum. Twenty-six days of exposing her to the fear toxin every morning—of sending in his men to try and figure out how to truly make her panic, and he had only learned one thing about her: that just as she was about to lose control, just as the panic rose so far that she would _consider_ screaming, the fear became a trigger. Instead of being frightened by the hallucinations caused by the drug, she became languid, switching into an alter-ego…into the true, bloodthirsty, cunning, Rag Doll. He had lost three men already from the experiments themselves, two more when he sent in a group of eight to finally restrain her once more.

Jonathan tried to ignore it, but even he was un-nerved when she turned her head towards the two-way glass that separated him from her sterile-white confines, and trained her eyes at the exact spot that he stood. He knew that she couldn't really see him, but still…

The doctor reached his arm down, and pressed a finger to the small, square red button that would allow her to hear him.

"Good Morning, Ms. Hancock."

Sultry, green eyes rolled at the use of her name.

"Please stop calling me that Doctor. I'm sure after all of this time you can tell the difference, hmm?" Doll muttered, shifting uncomfortably on the gurney.

"My apologies Rag Doll," Crane said, a slight smirk on his face. Yes, he could tell the difference by now, but as he had noticed negative emotions were more of the Rag Doll's finesse than of Elise's, and he much more preferred Rag Doll. "I guess I'm still learning."

She sighed heavily—bored—staring dully at the restraints that held her down. "I'm growing tired of this game, it's almost as bad as a full round of Monopoly."

"Would you rather I bring in a board game then?" His eyes danced over her, taking in the small smirk she allowed before looking hauntingly back to where he stood. No, he didn't freeze, he _paused_. It wasn't that he liked this side of her, he just preferred it to her more hyper and annoying side. This was the true Rag Doll—a monster created to help her deal with her memories.

"I said almost Doctor Crane, not better."

Her make up was wearing off. Why did it seem wrong? Almost like a part of her was being rubbed away into the gurney..."Right, of course Ms. Doll. So then what do you propose as a 'better game'?"

"Well, for starters, you could let me off of this hospital piece of shit, and let me walk for a little while. I probably am as capable of moving as a paraplegic by now, you do realize that right?"

Except that she could move perfectly well. Part of the game was to see if she could escape her binds, which, despite her daily efforts, she couldn't. Still, she made him want to laugh at the thought of the strong willed, capable Rag Doll being reduced to a wheelchair. No...from what he'd seen so far, it would take a lot more than extended bed rest to put her down.

"Elise, you know that I can't—."

"_I AM NOT ELISE!_"

_Ahh...there's that fire. _Rag Doll had spoke roughly, as though possessed. Her features scrunched into a look of pure immense pain for a few seconds before slowly returning to their normal, sweet, serence expression. Her tense muscles slowly relaxed correspondingly.

"Of course, you're not..." He said to himself, not bothering to let her hear him. She showed obvious signs of schizophrenia, but lacked all of the characteristics. Instead of scared, she was bold. Instead of paranoid, she was oblivious—to an extent. The only times he could see any kind of heightened emotion were for mere seconds. Then of course, he had only personally seen her express three different emotions: Sorrow, anger, and indifference. If you wanted to count in halves, maybe a slight playfulness could count as a half of an emotion. He had been made aware that she, or rather _Elise_ had been fascinated with the Joker, and that he was the reason for Rag Doll's creation, but rag Doll herself obviously didn't like the Clown Prince of Crime himself. He wasn't able to study Elise's behavior with Joker himself either. So did that count...?

But then, perhaps the secret to her behavior wasn't in the negative side of her emotional spectrum. Maybe, it had to do with how Elise dealt with love, or in this case adoration. It may even be hidden in her past. Who she was before she became Rag Doll and how she lost control...of course as always there was a traumatic experience triggered her change of psyche. But what exactly happened?

Crane's eyes bore into her's, subconsciously finding him in her strange way... He needed to know that part of her, to sate his own curiosity. She might even be useful to _him_. Of course he could get Elise to accept herself, but that side of her was just so—.

"Dr. _Craaaaaaaaannne_." Damn it. The sound of her whine made him realize he had waited too long. Rag Doll had already slipped back inside her shell, allowed Elise to hold the reigns again. How she allowed that though—. "I haven't eaten anything for _hours_! I'm _starviiing_..."

Her stomach growled pointedly. Only another sound to add to the ticks she was slowly etching...painfully. Yes, he could very easily tell the difference between the two of them.

"Yes Elise, I'll bring the two of you some food soon, okay?" He nodded to the two men beside him to indicate that by him, he meant them.

"Uh...anything specific?" The younger one asked this, eying the dead pan stare confused, "Sir?"

Crane took a deep, aggravated breath before rubbing his forehead and looking back to the 'hired help'. He didn't care to hide it, hissing through his teeth as he spoke. "I don't hire idiots, Chance. Now," He pulled his glasses off and folded them to put into his shirt pocket, grinning in an eerily polite way in contrast to his previous demeanor, "I understand that you're...younger than most men that I hire. So I'm going to give you another chance to correct what you just said."

His eyes bore into the henchman's, "Go."

And he went. Hurriedly turning around and leaving with the older man beside him, who Jonathan caught a glimpse smacking the younger goon in the back of the head as they went. He allowed a small chuckle.

"_Jooooohnnnnyyyyy._" Elise sang and then giggled, her eyes unfocused, unable to settle on a single spot for long. His lips curled as he listened to her, debating as to whether or not he should respond to her pet name. He would have to. In order to learn from her he would have to remain on good terms with both sides of her.

"Yes, Elise?" Good terms didn't mean he couldn't show favoritism.

She pouted childishly. "Can I get up now? I'm bored of this game too."

"I've come to realize that," Crane started as his men returned with a small bag of Mcdonalds. He found himself snarling in disgust at the younger goon and released the intercom button to grab the bag.

"You bought fast food? Greasy _filth_?" He glared at the older one as well, "And you let him?! She would have been happy with a sandwich out of the kitchen."

Shaking his head and making sure to tone down his expression and attitude he kept a serious stare on them before walking into the room. "We'll talk about this later."

The two men stood worriedly on the other side as he shut and locked the door behind him, braving a small polite smile as he approached who was currently Elise. "I have a much better..._game_ in mind." He muttered, removing her restraints one by one before pulling up a chair for himself.

She sat up as he handed her the bag of food, trying his best not to cringe when she squealed with delight. It was seconds before she was shoving the burger into her mouth and savored her first bite before making herself act as serious as was possible for Elise. "No. No more games. You had your fun, and now I want to leave."

By the way her body twitched and subsequently choked on her food, he had the impression that Rag Doll had a different opinion on the matter, though for some reason she didn't surface. She stayed in the back and watched anyway.

"But this new game has a prize." He baited. She didn't bite, so he threw out more. "A prize that will most certainly help you win over the Joker."

_There we go._ Her posture straightened. Her eyes lit up with interest. He'd got her. She licked her lips, looking around for the right words. "What''s the game?"

"We're going to get close to, and kill, the ever heroic...Batman."

Red dreadlocks flung rapidly as she nodded at him, her grin wide—legs kicking like a little kids as they dangled off of the end of the gurney. She quickly, though carefully, set the food aside and lunged out to hug him. The doctor swiftly stepped out of the way, watching emotionless as she stumbled and fell to the ground. Clearly, Elise wasn't the stronger of the two personalities.

"I don't _do_ contact." He explained when she looked at him pitifully.

"Oh. Okay."

He looked away from her small frame on the ground, sprawled like a pitiful, beaten, house wife. It was so hard to hide his aggravation with this side of her, when everything she did was ticking away at what little sanity he had left. This, was going to be a long, painful, experiment for both of them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Please review and let me know what you think! Any and all information I may have gotten wrong please correct me, and please tell me if you know anything I don't! Thx!**

**...**

"Why do I need a collar, Johnny?"

Crane cringed inwardly and looked over at Elise, walking beside him. Her rosy full lips puckered, green eyes downcast onto the concrete floor of the Asylum halls. He resisted the urge to snarl at the whine in her voice and pushed his glasses into place.

"Well, you have killed a good number of my men, despite you're restraints during our 'game', and although you're here willingly, I can't take the risk of you slaughtering any more of my good men. Especially not for reasons as simple as 'bad form'." He allowed himself a small chuckle, knowing that Rag Doll had probably chuckled at his remark. "You're lucky I'm letting you walk with how...viscous...Rag Doll can be."

_Are you saying that you'd like to restrain me, Doctor? _Rag Doll thought loudly, a slight purr in her voice, but Elise made a face of pure disgust. "It's not like you wouldn't have killed them yourself, sooner or later." She muttered.

_He's trying to act like he's _so _much better than anyone, isn't he? _

_He's the Dungeon Master in this game, Elise. He has every right t—._

_Well he's not! He's not better than anyone! _"_You _hear _me_, _Doctor Crane?_" Elise practically seethed, "You're crazy! Just. Like _every_. _One. ELSE!_"

Jonathan stumbled backwards and quickly pressed and held the button to the shock collar. He allowed a shuddering breath to escape him, and felt relief as he watch her writhe and tug at the collar, her jaw clenched and mouth of the verge of foaming. She had been so close to his face...so close to _him_. No one got close to him. Ever. He let go of the button hesitantly, quickly regaining his composure.

Slowly, she released the collar, her arms and head hung, knees bent awkwardly, as though she truly were a rag doll being held in the giant invisible hand of a child. Then her eyes softened, and she straightened, languidly. Stretching out her limbs and rolling her neck, she turned and gave a small nod to the man beside her.

"Hello, Rag Doll." The doctor said pleasantly, and continued his walk, briskly. He heard her exasperated sigh as she fell in step beside him. He felt some of the previous irritation melt away. It was almost as though he was walking with a partner rather than a lab experiment. It wasn't unnerving when he heard her low chuckle, just...odd.

"I'm learning about you too, Jonathan." She smiled up at him, like a lover on a date. Her face had a carnal sweetness about it as she took in how smoothly he tried to look at her in the corner of his eye, feigning a sense of disinterest as he continued forward. "For example...you're skittish. You're scared of being _touched_...of being hur_t_." She articulated the 't' pointedly.

Then she looked up at him, and tauntingly reached her hand out towards his face. Her eyes were glittering with dulled excitement as she slowly got closer to making contact. He _did_ try, so hard, to keep that calm demeanor of his, didn't he? She just wanted to see him snap, just once. Maybe he'd stay that way, if he liked it.

When she touched the side of his face, he cringed, but didn't stop her. In his eyes, she could see how he despised her touch, because they widened ever so slightly. He was trying to win over Elise by showing this small sign of trust. A simple breach of contact, and all was right in the world? The thought made her want to laugh, but she didn't. Instead she kept her face calm, tracing her thumb over those soft, full lips of his. They made her wonder what they would feel like, against her own.

"Elise is not a child, Doctor." She whispered, eyes locked onto his lips, "Do not misunderstand her." Then her eyes flicked up for the briefest moment, connecting with his. For a moment, they just watched each other. When they finally resumed their walk, he found himself silently wishing she would stay this way for awhile—the silence was nice.

They eventually made their way out of the asylum through the catacombs underneath. The door that Crane led them out of revealed a small clearing at the edge of the woods, just by the road, in the middle of which sat a small white Sierra RS Cosworth. Elise has slipped out during their walk, but stayed quiet thanks to Rag Doll. He could tell though, by the slight ticks in her facial expressions. With a sigh he hoped that she might be a little more excited once she saw where she'd be staying. The whole point was so that both sides of her would cooperate the he need them to. This was going to be a long ride...

…

Crane cut off the engine after pulling into the driveway of an ordinary looking cabin-styled house. Stained log paneling decorated the outside with large windows on the second floor, and even a bay window on the first. A little ounce of triumph showed in smirk—he had been driving a little more recklessly than most people, showing Elise that he did indeed have a sign of crazy, surely in his exhilarated smile as much as his driving. If that hadn't done it, he was sure this would.

"It's nice." She allowed, getting out and waiting for Crane before she made her way into the house behind him. The inside was so...bland. And _normal. _The living had little to no decoration. The couch was a simple, boxy shaped, gray item that was clearly never used. A simple wooden coffee table sat in front of it, and instead of a television there was a bookcase filled with various different studies of psychology, chemistry, etc. Typical Dr. Crane topics...

Elise rolled her eyes in boredom at how ordinary the house looked. The two bedrooms were on the first floor, on the right of the entrance, with the bathroom in the middle, and a small kitchen area with a wall separating it from the living room. In the wall a small window was cut so that you could still see through it. Elise came to the conclusion that the top floor was just a large attic.

He just sat there, letting her taking it all in, seeing the boredom in her eyes. That was good, she would like the contrast. He watched as she wandered through the house, peering into his bedroom to see his neatly made bed, sterile-white comforter and pillows, along with more bookcases. Then, she finally made her way to the guest room, the door of which he had left closed on purpose so that she would see it last.

The door swung open to reveal sterile-white walls of course, but then her eyes fell on the bed. White with pink roses, and then the net up in the corner with over a hundred stuffed animals spilling out of it and onto the floor. There was even a Raggedy Anne lamp on the bedside table, and a large walk-in closet full of different costumes, clothes, and wigs.

That's where she went first. The closet doors were open, showing the full length mirror on the back of one of them. She moved towards it cautiously, turning once in the middle of the room. Crane stayed in the doorway watching her reaction. This was yet another extension of his 'trust'. It reminded him of a doe, the way she walked, checking to gauge his own reaction, though he made it a point to let his eyes wander elsewhere, so as not to make her uneasy. He wanted her to think that this was for her, not the game.

Timid-looking finger tips reached out to each outfit, each costume, each wig. She disappeared inside the closet for a few minutes before she came back out. Her eyes held the simple innocence of a dumbfounded child. In her hands, she held a long-haired, blonde wig, which she soon tucked her dreads underneath. The make-up had worn off almost completely by now, revealing just how normal she once looked. And with the wig, Crane had the feeling he was passing her in the halls of the asylum again.

She tilted her head from side to side in the mirror. "It looks so real." He heard her whisper, as she touched each side of her face. Her eyes grew wide suddenly, and her head dropped as though she were ashamed. Elise tore the wig from her head but didn't put it down. He could feel the pressure change in the atmosphere as Elise retreated back into herself.

"We're supposed to be playing a new game, Doctor." Rag Doll purred lightly, almost threateningly, hinting on that he had somehow aggravated her. "What is all of this?" She lifted her head and looked around, gesturing to the room with open arms.

So it was Rag Doll's turn to investigate the room first-hand, then. He continued to remain in the door way as she walked away from the closet door and around the bed, touching her finger tips to the comforter as she passed. He liked the way she smiled at the lamp, like they had finally shared a joke between them.

"I felt that you needed somewhere that you could feel..._safe_. Almost as though you were at home. You're here as my guest, Rag Doll. The both of you are. And I plan to treat you as such." Unlike with Elise, he could watch Rag Doll as boldly as he liked, admiring how she moved so gracefully—with purpose. Always with purpose. Rag Doll thought of herself highly, as opposed to Elise, who thought of herself with shame.

"Do you give you're men housing like this?" She asked, her brow raised before she dramatically looked at the ceiling. "Are they in your attic? Right now?"

Something in his cool, pleasant, smile...felt real. The doctor shook his head and allowed himself a chuckle. "My men don't require housing like this. They're nowhere near as useful."

A low laugh came from her throat. She'd knelt down to pick up one of the beanie babies on the floor, and now stood, slowly turning to Jonathan and walking towards him. His eyes raked over her form, taking in her demeanor, her attitude. Oh, yes. He very much preferred her this way.

He started as she reached out and touched his cheek like before, only at normal speed. She leaned up to his ear on her tip-toes, "I know what you're doing, Jonathan. You're trying to win over Elise. ...And guess what?" She moved her lips dangerously close to his neck, brushing just barely against his skin, "Though it might be working, her loyalties still lie with the Joker. That won't change."

A chill ran down his spine, and he found himself leaning into her, though she pulled away. No one touched him, because he didn't want to be touched. And the ones he did touch, he was killing. No, he didn't like this, he was simply allowing it in order to maintain what trust he had already acquired.

Crane straightened himself and forced his emotionless, fake smile back into his features. "Well, I hope you feel comfortable. Of course, you're welcome to any food in the kitchen should you get hungry.

"Now, rule number one of our _game_: Don't leave the house before nightfall in case someone sees you and when you do leave, go through that door—," he pointed to a small closet looking door in the living room, "—which will lead you into the cellar, and then to the cellar door outside. Rule number two: Don't leave without telling me where you're going, otherwise if something where to happen I would be lacking as well. Rule number three: Keep this phone on you at all times. Now, I have places to be." He slapped the flip-styled device into her hand and stalked off, heading out of the house through the front door, then stopped again.

"Oh, and one more thing—attempt to call anyone on that phone, other than myself, and the game is over." And he left. Rag Doll finally let out the laughter that had built up inside of her at his sudden business-like attitude. It was like he was a schoolboy running away from a girl with _cooties!_

After a few minutes her laughter subsided, though the memory of the subtle panic beneath his calm facade managed to bring back a few giggles every once in a while. She decided to take the empty house as an invitation to look around some more, and made her way into the living room. There wasn't much else in there that she hadn't already seen—books, furniture, more books. Almost all of his books were psychology or science based, except for the very bottom shelf, which held a few Stephen King books.

_What is his deal?_ Elise whined from inside, _And whats yours too? Are you actually enjoying this? _Rag Doll chuckled, making her way into the kitchen. Again, little decor.

_Hellooo!_

Doll sighed. "I couldn't have come here without you're permission Elise, you're the dominant personality and you have to make any decision. Or have you forgotten that you were working with Crane to kill the Batman?"

Elise huffed, _I didn't think he was going to treat me like his pet either. Or more like his friends pet that he really doesn't like. I can just hear him saying "Damn, cat" every time I regress. He's only being nice because he wants me to help him._

"I thought you wanted to be useful, Lizzy!" Doll said, knowing how badly Elise hated the nickname, "He obviously thinks you are, or he wouldn't have asked for you're help."

_I'm not stupid, Elise, and neither are you. He has an ulterior motive, and I don't know what it is. I don't like that._

"Elise, calm down. What do you think he's going to do with a crazy girl he just met? Use you as a new ingredient to his fear toxin? Rape you? Oh god no, of course not. He _ran _when I touched him."

_You really do think this is funny._ Elise gawked. Rag Doll was sure their shared body would be a sight if someone had seen them when they were alone; she laughed. Doll made her way into Crane's room, not feeling the slightest bit of discomfort at breaching his privacy. The walls, books, and bed she had already seen. The desk, however, she hadn't.

"Of course I do Elise. You're having second thoughts about the only good idea anyone's had, of getting you side by side with Joker."

She began rifling through the drawers of the desk, finding what seemed to be Crane's personal notes of different patients, his enemies, even his own allies. _Well, especially them, actually._ Some notes were different formula's to his toxin, including contacts involved with it's making.

"Ooo, I think we can have a little fun with this one, Lizzy!" Rag Doll sang, taking the enemy files and flopping onto his bed to start reading, but then paused. "Something's missing..."

Rag Doll let her eyes wander around the place until they finally landed on Jonathan Crane's stereo system, and made her way over to it rifling through the cds. "Huh, who would have pegged him for Three Days Grace...he even has the latest album."

A hiss of content breathed from her as she felt the music pulse through her. Elise even fell silent, enjoying the sound.

"Now, let's get back to business."

Rag Doll returned to the bed and started going through the different pages, singing along with Matt Walsh. _"Let me be the one to numb you out..."_

…

Crane walked through the park, watching all of the little children running around with their parents grouped together watching them. He smirked. At any moment one of their parents would turn on them; maybe some of them already had. His blue eyes searched the faces of each one...right there. That one. One of the mothers. Her smile and her wrinkles didn't match. She didn't really smile that much. Her movements were jerked...paranoid. She watched the others like she expected them to jump up and accuse her... _Disgusting._

He kept walking, dully ignoring the images of his own Grandmother. The flutter of the crow's wings near-by brought back old memories if only for a second. People like them were a waste. In an attempt to clear his mind, he wandered over to the community events board, where a bright blue piece of paper was stapled in the middle: Bruce Wayne holds a charity event for orphaned children. It was a kids party that he planned to hold for them. Crane had kept his eye on the man for a while, noting that he always seemed to disappear from his parties and events suddenly, coincidentally when one of the top _villains_ had made an appearance. Well...now that he had his very own pet to play with, he might as well take her for a walk...

It was dark before Jonathan finally decided to return to the house, having cleared his head sufficiently. He made his way into the house silently. The light to her room was off—good. He could go to sleep without worrying about—.

Crane froze, half-way through removing his suit-jacket and stared at the light pouring from his room and onto the darkness cloaking the rest of his home. He made his movements cautious once more, leaning in to peer stealthily into his own bedroom, before finally breathing a sigh of relief. The girl had merely fallen asleep with the lamp on, sprawled across his bed with the pages of one of his files spread all around her upper half, like a hamsters nest. His stereo was on as well, blinking a set of numbers to let him know she'd played through whatever album she'd put into it.

It took a few minutes to pick up all of the files in put them back into their proper order, then to replace the Three Days Grace album and re-organize his cds that she'd gone through. By the time he was finished, his exhaustion had melted into pure irritation. Some new boundaries would have to be set seeing as there was a lack of respect that needed to be corrected. He shook her awake, only a little more violent than he probably should have.

Groggily, she opened her soft green eyes, licking her bright red lips as she did her best to focus on reality. Her voice was a soft, and sleepy, like a creaky floor-board in the middle of the night, "Crane...?"

Was this the kind of thing that normal people found endearing? Because he was doing his best to keep his lip from curling in aggravation, "Come on, let's get up child. You're not sleeping in my bed."

"But, Johnny, I really wannaaa..." And she flipped over, pulling her arm from his grasp.

All but the smallest bit of patience was gone, which Jonathan used to force himself to her level, hissing into her ear, "Rag Doll, I suggest you control your _weaker _half before I have her thrown onto the street in the cold. I will not have my bedding compromised for mere curiosity."

Within seconds her eyes were wide open, as Rag Doll sleepily forced herself to sit. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. The doctor cleared his throat pointedly. This earned him a soft, but threatening look as the girl pushed herself off of the mattress and made to leave. At the doorway, Rag Doll leaned into it, turning to look at the tired doctor as he sat alone on the bed, staring with disdain at the wrinkles in his comforter.

"Goodnight..._Johnny,_" Rag Doll grinned, then sauntered out.


End file.
